Gold, tech and tariffs dominate 2025

STOCKS ROSE, GOLD SURGED, OIL SLID AND BITCOIN REVERSED GAINS IN A YEAR SHAPED BY TARIFFS

- BY NIVETHA DAYANAND

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi rings the bell during a ceremony to mark the last trading day of the year on the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday.

(AP)

Many investors are closing out 2025 with more money in their pockets, even after a year that repeatedly tested risk appetite. Global equities recovered from an April shock linked to fresh tariffs and still finished the year with strong gains, while three US rate cuts lowered borrowing costs and helped keep valuations supported.

The real story, though, sat in the crosscurrents. Gold delivered its best year since 1979, oil fell hard, the US dollar weakened, and pockets of risk from junk credit to emerging markets produced returns that did not fit the usual script.

The year's defining market pattern was a sharp drop followed by an equally sharp recovery. World stocks rebounded from April's tariff-driven selloff and still added about 20 per cent, extending a run that has now produced double-digit gains in six of the past seven years. The rally looked resilient on the surface, but it was also narrow and politically sensitive, with pricing increasingly driven by policy headlines rather than slow-moving fundamentals.